Wiring a 240 volt light ballast for 120 volts?

Hello RIU members,
I need to rack the brains of some of the electrically knowledged individuals.
My neighbor had a HID ballast on a post in front of his barn. He hasn't been using for several months now because we had to cut a tree down along with the wires that were running the ballast. I was visiting him last night and he told me that if I climb up the post and get the ballast I could have it. Upon bringing it back to my house and taking it apart, I realized it was meant to run off of a 240 volt current.
My question is; Is it possible to convert the ballast so I can run it off of a 110~120 volt house plug?

It is designed for a 175 watt bulb (I think it's MH)

It is General Electric brand.

All information is greatly appreciated.

If it has a multi-tap transformer, then yes, it just needs to have the wires switched. If not, you'll have to buy a new transformer for it. It shouldn't cost very much. The last time I bought parts I got a multi-tap transformer AND a new capacitor for like $40. Just be careful what you do with your leftover parts. I just threw mine in a little box, and a few months later some dumbass rookie LEO thought I was trying to build a bomb, because the box weighed like 15 pounds and had a bunch of wires sticking out of it... No joke.

Oh yeah, if it doesn't already have a plug on it, you can use a 3-prong extension cord. Outdoor type is best. Cut a couple feet of it, with the plug still attached, and use the rest to remotely mount your ballast from your socket.

Thank you very much for the info. I am grateful that you would take the time out of your day to help someone that you have never met before.

I did some research and found (please correct me if wrong)that I could wire the 240v ballast for two 120v house plugs but they would have to be on seperate poles.

How can I find out wether or not it is a multi tap ballast? It has a tag on it that says; Input-240v. Output-175w. Model #- 39 blahblah.
I don't have the ballast sitting in front of me right now, but coming out of the backside are two black wires and Inside of the incasing there are several wires including a blue, red, and idk what else. Tonight I plan on taking the ballast apart and getting more details on what's inside.

I have never heard of wiring (1x) 240v to (2x) 120v or whatever, but i'm not an electrician... Even if I was, I wouldn't recommend trying it unless you have experience with this stuff.

If it has a tag that only mentions 240v input and I had to guess, I would guess that it doesn't have a multi-tap transformer. I tried to Google some pics to show you, but the only ones I can find are crap. If it does, it will have a bunch of extra wires, hopefully that are labelled for voltages. If I recall, they're the COM wires, but don't quote me on that.

I have 13 lights that I need to switch over to 120v from 277v, so give me a little bit and i'll go grab one and take some pictures after i'm done smokin'...

Yea, I'm not sure that I am going to try and wire it to two 120v. The risk of catching my house on fire would be too great without positive knowledge.
Right now I am using cfl's but they aren't doing as good as I had hoped they would.
I have two 100w equivalent lights that are 2700k spectrum and emit over 3400 lumens combined. I know when the plants get bigger, I will need more adequate lighting, but they are only four weeks from seedling.

GrowinIdahoan said:

Yea, I'm not sure that I am going to try and wire it to two 120v. The risk of catching my house on fire would be too great without positive knowledge.
Right now I am using cfl's but they aren't doing as good as I had hoped they would.
I have two 100w equivalent lights that are 2700k spectrum and emit over 3400 lumens combined. I know when the plants get bigger, I will need more adequate lighting, but they are only four weeks from seedling.

Click to expand...

DO NOT wire it up to two differnt plug holes.. in fact dont do this at all u cant direct current that way... just because u add up 120+120 does not mean its going to just work because it ='s 240... The ballast requires more amps then a 120volt line can supply thats the whole reason u need at least 90C rated wire to supply the ballast.. because the wire needs to be able to handle the greater amps.. Also to tell if its a multi tap ballast is quite easy...look for differnt voltage wires coming from the ballast...if you see other voltage wires other then 240v like 120v,270 then its a multi tap ballast but if u see just one voltage wire (your 240v) then its not a multi tap and it can only be used with that voltage..

Thanks for the heads up.
I think I am just going to try and get a garage security light and remote ballast it. I have been hearing that people using 150 watt hps are getting really good yield with nice dense buds covered in delicious little trichomes. Does anyone know the general cost of a 150 ballast? I live in the mountains and don't travel to town that often.